The Sleeper and the Insomniac -Solo show at the Multicultural Centre Public Art Gallery

You are cordially invited to,


'The Sleeper and the Insomniac'
New paintings by Daphne Cote

I encourage you all to attend the Artist Reception with complimentary wine and snacks on
Sunday May 1st from 1:00 -3:30pm.
The show runs from April 22 to May 10, 2011
At the Multicultural Centre Public Art Gallery, 
5411-51St, Stony Plain

 

The Sleeper #3

2011

40" x 60"

Oil on Canvas

$3,000.00

 Setting up of the show

 The Insomniac #2

2011

40" x 30"

Acrylic on Canvas

$1,100.00

 The Sleeper #4

2011

48" x 30"

Oil on Canvas

$1,400.00

 At the gallery on hanging day.

The above images are just a portion of the paintings that are included in 'The Sleeper and the Insomniac', a show of my most recent work. For over the past 3 months I have been working very hard on this series. It is the largest series I have produced to date. The series includes 8 paintings, mostly larger sizes.

I was kindly asked if I could put together a show in a matter of a few months. Of course I said yes and jumped at the opportunity. I had finished two paintings The Sleeper #1 and The Insomniac #1 (which were untitled at the time), and they had sparked a lot of conversations with people who viewed them. I started to see them as complementary to each other. They seemed to talk to each other and create interesting discussions by their viewers when they were shown together. So, when asked to do a show, I had these paintings and creating a series out of them in mind. 

The paintings that started it off were really exercises to push my skills and abilities as a painter. I was revisiting acrylic paint as preparation for teaching workshops, as to remind myself the qualities and abilities of the medium. The subject matter of The Insomniac started off as I dream, that turned into a day dream, that turned into a birthday present for my significant other. I took some self portraits that started off as a gift to my love and are now also the reference material for The Insomniac paintings.

The reference material for The Sleeper stemmed from ideas and images that I had daydreamed about on my many walks to and from the university when I was getting my degree over 10years ago. Then one morning I woke up to my dream come true right there in my bed. The lighting and positioning and the bedding was perfect. It was the most handsome landscape of bedding and man.

Essentially this show is me living out my dreams.

Here is the Artist Statement that is posted at the show: 

 The Sleeper and the Insomniac

Artist Statement

In this show, The Sleeper and the Insomniac, I am looking at complimentary ideas. Oil paint and acrylic paint. Men and woman. Day and night. Color and black and white. Awake and sleeping. being together and being apart. And how these separate yet complementary ideas relate when put side by side.

These paintings started off as a test of my skills in using acrylic versus oil paint in preparation for teaching. By having these complementary paintings together, they seemed to speak to each other and develop a relationship. When talking with others about the work, I found we would often discuss the paintings together. From there the series snowballed to culminate into the show before you.

The main purpose of this work, and all my work, is to provide a catalyst for discussion. Whether in the gallery, business, or home, I create my work with the intent to give a starting point for ideas. One of my favorite aspects of having a career as an artist/painter is to stand behind people and listen to what they have to say about the paintings. How do people view and interpret my paintings and what messages do they derive form them. I enjoy when people are looking at my paintings then dive into conversations such as 'I had the best sleep last night...' or 'I went out to this great place last night with my husband...' or  'that reminds me I want to wash my sheets today'. In my opinion, successful paintings invoke a sudden thought, be it even the most mundane of thoughts such as laundry. By listening in on these conversations about my work I learn more about effective means of visual communication and it expands my visual vocabulary.

I am a painter because I find I can express myself and ideas better in a visual form than in any other media. I use images from my life because they are readily at hand. My family and friends often turn into my models. They're cheap. For the same reason I use myself as a model.

Though the models used for these works are people I know intimately I don't see them as people I know intimately. Through the process of painting the figures they have turned into symbols of ideas and ultimately into universal people. They are like statues of people that you pass on a walk where their names are forgotten and they have long ago aged or passed on, they represent a point on the path of life that we can all relate to. The reference material used was captured in a single moment that has long since passed on and the people have changed. They are now just symbols of ideas and emotions.

Art reflects and comments on life. I would love to hear what your first thoughts were that came into your head at your first glance of the show and  I encourage you to email me or post your thoughts on my blog. Creating is the art of bringing things together.

-Daphne Cote